AAHOA President & CEO Cecil P. Staton issued the following statement in response to the Senate passage of a one-week stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown.
“While Washington waits until the last minute to get its house in order with a stopgap measure good for just one week, the American people and American enterprise continue to suffer. From battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic calamity to mending the political divisions of the recent elections, our nation faces numerous challenges. The fact that our elected leaders came within a hair's breadth of allowing a government shutdown during these most difficult of times is yet another sad reminder of how political gridlock is prolonging the misery of this pandemic.
“There exists no better example of something "moving at the speed of government" than the bewilderingly lackadaisical pace at which Washington politicians are approaching the financial crisis gripping the nation's small businesses. Like thousands of other small business owners, hoteliers need banking relief, another round of PPP, and access to capital if they want to have any hope of keeping the lights on. Without a new stimulus package that addresses the realities facing thousands of employers and millions of workers across America, the carnage of American small businesses will lay squarely at Washington's feet.”